Hong Kong’s stablecoins ordinance, which took effect on Friday, puts cryptocurrency’s most-traded cash substitute under the same regulatory framework as banks, triggering a rush for a limited number of licences from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Some market observers were caught by surprise after learning that the first batch of stablecoin licences was only…
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) stepped into the foreign-exchange market on Friday for the fifth time in two weeks, scooping up the local currency and increasing overnight lending costs to drive away carry traders who have sought to take advantage of the city’s rate gap with the US dollar. The city’s de facto central…
Retail rents in Hong Kong are expected to remain under pressure, as the trend of residents travelling to the mainland for leisure has led many businesses to opt for short-term leases, experts have said after the vacancy rate in the city’s busiest districts hit a 4½-year high. Analysts on Monday also attributed the mounting vacancies…
Retail rents in Hong Kong are expected to remain under pressure, as the trend of residents travelling to the mainland for leisure has led many businesses to opt for short-term leases, experts have said after the vacancy rate in the city’s busiest districts hit a 4½-year high. Analysts on Monday also attributed the mounting vacancies…
In the second of a two-part series on Hong Kong’s efforts to boost its tourism industry, the Post takes a look at other attractions the city can offer beyond the nine hotspot products the government has floated. Read part one here. Even as Hong Kong has kick-started efforts to promote nine “tourism hotspots” identified by…
Hong Kong stocks rose from a one-week low as mainland funds ploughed more money into the city’s assets on optimism that Beijing will push for high-quality growth and rein in excessive price competition in some industries. The Hang Seng Index gained 0.5 per cent to 24,182.88 at 9.50am local time on Wednesday, while the Hang…
Hong Kong’s approved mortgage loans surged to a one-year high in May as more homebuyers sought to refinance their existing loans amid lower bank rates, according to data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Banks approved HK$26.6 billion (US$3.39 billion) worth of loans in May, a 5.3 per cent rise from a month earlier,…
Hong Kong’s approved mortgage loans surged to a one-year high in May as more homebuyers sought to refinance their existing loans amid lower bank rates, according to data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Banks approved HK$26.6 billion (US$3.39 billion) worth of loans in May, a 5.3 per cent rise from a month earlier,…
Hong Kong authorities will strive to create a conducive environment for the wide-ranging application of stablecoins in a bid to provide practical help for businesses to resolve cross-border payment issues, the city’s finance chief has said. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Sunday reaffirmed the government’s efforts in applying fintech to resolve long-standing “pain points”…
In financial markets, the Hong Kong dollar is known as a “widow-maker”, a ruinous trade that inflicts painful losses on successive generations of investors. While betting against Japanese government bonds has been the most notorious widow-maker trade, challenges to Hong Kong’s currency peg to the US dollar date back to the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis…